Family Law Attorney, Divorce Attorney Miami
In divorce proceedings, many spouses own businesses or shares of business. If that business was acquired or accrued significantly in value during the marriage, that business is an asset of the marriage subject to division (equitable distribution). In addition, in many cases a spouse will convey an interest in real property to a third party such as a sibling or other confidante in the hopes of depriving the other spouse to their 50% entitlement to that asset.
The law has an answer for these problems. The third party i.e. the business, the sibling or the confidante can be joined as a party in the divorce action in order for the court to fairly distribute what is rightfully each spouse’s equitable entitlement. The purpose of this rule is to allow individuals to join third parties so that the court can obtain jurisdiction over assets to award to each party. Thus, a party to a divorce should move to join the third party when that third party owns an interest in an asset that is part of the marital estate. In addition, third parties claiming an interest in marital property have a right to intervene in a divorce action if spouses do not join them, given that the divorce action may affect their rights to property.
Failure to join a third party could hurt the spouse who does not join the party. For example, if the court attempts to award a share in property owned in part by a third party, the court could be reversed for failure to join that party because its rights were affected without being given notice. Also, if a spouse fails to join a business in a divorce, then the court may not have jurisdiction to award shares of that business to that spouse during the divorce. The decision on whether or not to join a third party such as a business or an individual to a divorce should be made only after consultation with a lawyer. Contact Filler Rodriguez, LLP a Miami Divorce Attorney
